REYKJAVIK: A decade after McDonald’s shut down in Iceland, thousands of online users follow the live slow decay of the last order — a seemingly indestructible burger with a side of fries protected in a glass case like a precious gem.
The American chain closed its only three branches in Iceland during the subarctic island’s financial crisis in 2009, making it one of the only Western countries without a McDonald’s.
On October 31 of that year, just before the restaurant’s closure, Hjortur Smarason bought a menu for conservation.
“I decided to buy a last meal for its historical value since McDonald’s were closing down,” Smarason, who works as a communications manager for a company specializing in space tourism, told AFP on Wednesday.
“I had heard that McDonald’s never decomposed so I just wanted to see if it was true or not.”
He first kept the meal in his garage but then lent it to the National Museum of Iceland, after which it was moved to a hotel in the capital Reykjavik for a while.
Now the burger is on display like a work of art inside a glass case at Snotra House, a hostel in Thykkvibaer in southern Iceland.
“People from around the world... come here just to visit the burger,” Sigurdur Gylfason, the owner of the establishment, told AFP.
The hotel claims it receives up to 400,000 hits daily.
Addressing claims that its burgers appeared immune to decay, the company said in 2013 that “in the right environment, our burgers, like most other foods, could decompose,” adding that “specifically moisture” was necessary.
So with sufficient desiccation, they were “unlikely to grow mold or bacteria or decompose.”
Bjorn Adalbjornsson, a senior lecturer at the University of Iceland’s faculty of food science, confirmed this to AFP on Thursday, explaining that without moisture, “food will simply dry out.”
The chosen bun: Decade-old burger’s decay livestreamed in Iceland
The chosen bun: Decade-old burger’s decay livestreamed in Iceland
- “I had heard that McDonald’s never decomposed so I just wanted to see if it was true or not.”
- The American chain closed its only three branches in Iceland during the subarctic island’s financial crisis in 2009
Turkish-language drama ‘Yellow Letters’ wins Berlin Film Festival’s top prize
- The report did not say who was to blame for the attacks
BERLIN: “Yellow Letters,” a Turkish-language drama about what happens to a marriage put under extraordinary political pressure, won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear top prize on Saturday night.
The drama filmed in Germany but set in Turkiye follows a married actor and playwright who have to leave behind their comfortable lives after the husband is targeted by the state for posting critical content online.
“I know what (this win) means to my cast and crew who came from Turkiye, who now are getting a visibility that is on an international scale,” Turkish-German director Ilker Catak told Reuters after the award ceremony.
The director, whose previous Berlin entry “The Teachers’ Lounge” was nominated for an Oscar, said it was important that the film was not just about Turkiye, but Germany as well.
“There is a sign that says 1933 and what we’ve seen in this country before, we must never forget,” he said, referring to the year that Adolf Hitler came to power.
This year’s jury president, legendary German director Wim Wenders, praised the winner as “a movie that speaks up very clearly about the political language of totalitarianism.”
In total, 22 films had been in the running.
POLITICAL FESTIVAL
The festival maintained its reputation as the most overtly political of its peers, Venice and Cannes, with the war in Gaza in particular dominating public discussions about the films.
“If this Berlinale has been emotionally charged, that’s not a failure of the Berlinale, and it’s not a failure of cinema,” said festival director Tricia Tuttle at the opening ceremony, using the festival’s nickname.
Wenders used his final appearance as jury president to urge filmmakers and activists to act as allies, not rivals, after his comment that filmmakers should not be political caused Indian novelist Arundhati Roy to pull out.
Several award winners used their speech to express solidarity with the Palestinians and other oppressed peoples.
“The least we can do here is to break the silence and remind them that they are not really alone,” said Turkish filmmaker Emin Alper, whose film “Salvation” took the second-place Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize.
Palestinian-Syrian director Abdallah Al-Khatib, whose “Chronicles From the Siege” won the Perspectives section for emerging filmmakers, criticized the German government for its stance on Gaza despite concerns about crossing a red line.
“I was under a lot of pressure to participate in Berlinale for one reason only, to stand here and say: ‘The Palestinians will be free,’” he said.
SANDRA HUELLER WINS AGAIN
German actor Sandra Hueller, who starred in 2024 Oscar-winning films “Anatomy of a Fall” and “Zone of Interest,” continued her winning streak by taking home best actor for the period piece “Rose,” in which she dresses as a man.
“To me, it’s special because I won my first-ever recognition as an actor in a film at this festival 20 years ago,” Hueller told Reuters, who won best actress in 2006 for “Requiem.”
“Queen at Sea,” a drama that follows French star Juliette Binoche as she deals with her mother’s advanced dementia and its effects on her marriage, won two prizes: the third-place jury prize and best supporting actor, shared by its two elderly performers, Anna Calder-Marshall and Tom Courtenay.
Director Lance Hammer, who last competed at the festival in 2008, said he hoped that maybe “people will see this and feel some comfort or relief that they’re not alone.”
Director Grant Gee won best director for “Everybody Digs Bill Evans,” a black-and-white biographical drama starring Norwegian actor Anders Danielsen Lie as the US jazz pianist.
“Nina Roza,” about an art curator who returns to Bulgaria to verify whether a child painting prodigy is genuine, won best screenplay while “Yo (Love is a Rebellious Bird)” took the prize for outstanding artistic contribution.
